“No, thanks,” said Phil; “I’ll see you again to-morrow! Au revoir!”
The same evening, having found a room, Phil left his hotel.
CHAPTER V
AN INITIATION INTO ART
The next day Phil returned his new friends’ hospitality by taking them to lunch.
“Where are we going?” Suzanne asked.
“Where you wish,” answered Phil.
“To Mère Michel’s, then.”
Suzanne delighted in this restaurant. The food was bad, but there was laughter. Sometimes messieurs with high hats invited her to chic places. Suzanne would refuse the chic restaurants and take them to Mère Michel’s, where their hats brought out thunders of applause.
Phil had a Derby hat and so received a more modest welcome. For that matter, few people were there when they arrived. Poufaille did the honors of the place.
“Do you see those two photos on the wall, Phil? That—hum!—that’s mine, my two statues—‘Liberty,’ ‘Fraternity.’ Do you see this photo in the frame? Salut! That means a year’s credit—it’s from Lionsot, a Prix-de-Rome man; he paid Mère Michel with an autograph dedication at the base of his ‘Light-Footed Achilles.’”